Humidifier.



S. W. GlLLlN.

HUMIDIFIER.

APPLlCATlON FILED mvza. 1914.

Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

2 SHEFITS-SHEET I.

Wihacoow Jamaica.

" FiE.

SAMUELW. GILLIN, 0F PUEBLO. COLORADO.

HUMIDIFIER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL W. GILLIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pueblo, in the county of Pueblo and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Humidifiers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for humidifying the air supplied to the carbureters of internal combustion engines, and is particularly adapted for use in connection. with engines employed for propelling automobiles.

Considerable difficulty is experienced in theoperation of explosive engines at high altitudes where the air is rarefied and in dry climates due to the lack of moisture in the air.

One of the ObJQCtS of my invention is to supply moisture to the air drawn into the engine cylinders through the carbureter,

converting the moisture into steam to humidify the air and at the same time heat the air leading to the carburetor and the carbureted air passing into the manifold. While this idea is not broadly new, my invention has greatly increased the efliciency of the apparatus for accomplishing this purpose and has rendered the method of humidifying the air more uniform and certain in operation. a

In the accompanying drawingswhich'illustrate the preferred. form of my invention,

Figure 1, is a side elevation of an apparatus embodying nay invention, Showing the man ner of connecting it to the carbureter and manifold of an explosive engine; Fig. 2 is a lon itudinal section of one formcf my humi ifier and the heating jacket surrounding a portion of the engine manifold; Fig 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. i is a modified form of humidifier with an attachment for conducting the water thereto by capillary attraction; Fig. 5 is a crosssection'on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an end view of Fig. 4: looking in the direction of the arrow 6; Fig. 7, is a perspective view, partly broken away of another form of my humidifier; Fig. 8 is a cross-section of Fig.7 on the line 8S;Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section thereof on the line 99 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is alongitudinal section of a fun ther modification of my humidifier; and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. '2, ELM-5.

Application filed May 29, 1914. Serial No. 841,928.

1 to 3, in which the air is humidified and heated, comprises a jacket 1, which may be formed in two parts so that it may be placed over the engine exhaust pipe 4, the parts being secured together by clamping bands;

5. The portion of the exhaust pipe inclosed The space between the cylinder andthe jacket s'a' hllmidifying chamber 9. During operation moisture is constantly supplied to thecylinderj through a pipe lOpreferably branched as shown, and connected to a watersupply tank 12, which may be-'con'+ veniently located so that the valve stem 13 Inlay project throu in easy access of the operator. I A pipe 16, leads from the'chamber 9 to a heating jacket 18, surrounding the base of the manifold 20, and from the jacket 18,

sh the dashboard 14 with? a pipe 21, leads to the air intake23 of the carbureter 25, which may be provided withv the usual float chamber 27, connected with the fuel supply pipe 28, and Withe primingclevlce controlled by a rod 30. The manifold.

is provided with the usual controllingvalve of the butterfly type, the shaft 29 of which carries the lever 31, and is operated: by a rod 32, leading to the dash-board. The humid air pipe 16 is provided with a valve 17,

lbiavirg a controlling rod leading to the dashwar The operation will be understood from the foregoing description of the apparatus.

The air which is drawn through the carbureter enters the chamber 9 through an opening 6 in the end of the jacket'l and,

becomes thoroughly vaporized as it pewes" over the steam-emltting porous cylinder 7,

the whole chamber 9 being constantly filled with steam.- The pores of the cylinder 7 are, constantly replenished with moisture from I r the tank 12, and as the interior surface of the cylinder is in intimate contact with the hot exhaust pipe 4, the moisture is readily lea transformed into steam. Inasmuch as the porous body extends substantially throughout the length of the jacket. the steam is very uniformly distributed throughoutthe chamber. It will be evident that the'numerous pores distributed throughout the entire body of the cylinder and completely cur-{f rounding the hot exhaust pipe, insures a far more constant supply and uniform distrihw' I tion of vapor than would be the cater? the i a Twin. i i

ase.

moisture were supplied merely by dropping water upon the exhaust pipe. In so far as I am aware I am the first to provide a means for supplying a constant amount of vapor and uniformly distributing it through the vaporizing chamber, thereby insuring a uniform product. 7

Instead of supplying the water by gravity as in Fig. 1 I may supply'it by capillary attraction through a wicking'35, as illustrated in Fig. 4-. The wicking extends from the water supply tank 37, through the tube or pipe 38 .into the chamber within the humidifier casing 1 which is filled with wicking, felt or other moistureabsorbing porous material 35*. The porous material 35 is kept constantly wet by the capillary action of the wicking, so that it presents an extended saturated surface which is readily converted into steam and vapor by the heat of the exhaust pipe The air to be humidified enters through the openings 40, and passes out through the pipe 16* leading to the jacket 18, from whence it passes to the carburetor.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I have shown the humidifier casing 1- having its bottom wall in the form of a saddle whiclrfits snugly over the exhaust pipe. The casing is partly filled with water which is constantly passing off in the form of vapor and steam and permeates the porousfelt partition 42. The space above the felt partition and the top of the casing forms a vaporizing chamber 44-. The air enters through the screen is thoroughly humidified as it passes over the Wet felt partition 42, and commingles with the steam and vapors which fill the chamber, passing out through the outlet 16 leading to the carbureter.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I have shown another form of humidifier which is very compact and eliicient. Embedded in the inner porous member a8, are water supply pipes 49, con nected to any suitable tank. Surrounding the member 48, is another porous absorbent member 50. In order that the air passing through the humidifier may pass over a large surface of the moisture laden porous members, I space the inner member from the exhaust pipe by means of protuberances and in the outer surface of the outer porous member, I form longitudinal channels or grooves 55, so that the air entering ithrough the openings 40 may divide through the inner passages 54 and the outer channels 55, thereby passing upon both sides of the moisture and steam laden porous inem ers.

In all forms of my invention, the air passing through the humidifier comes into intimate contact with an extended moistureladen and steaming porous surface thereby causing the air to become thoroughly impregnated with moisture. Inasmuch as the pores of the porous body are constantly supplied with'water from the supply tank and these Water-filled pores are constantly subjected to the heat from the inclosed exhaust pipe the vaporizing action isuniform and constant while if it were supplied by causing Water to drop upon the hot pipe there would be intermittent evolutions ofsteam and the moisture in the air passing through the easing would'be very uneven, causing a corresponding variation in. the action of the en- "me. I I have described in detail the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings for the purpose of disclosing embodiments of my invention, but it will be evident to those skilled in this art that changes may be made therein within the scope of my claims and without departing from the scope of my invention.

I claim 1. A humidifier comprising an annular casing adapted to surround a heated memher, said casing having inlet and outlet ports, a porous body within said casing and arranged to form one wall of an unobstructed channel connecting the inlet and outlet ports, and means for supplying water to the said porous body. v

2. A. humidifier adapted to receive heat by contact with a heated body, comprising an annular cellular absorbent body, an impervious tubular casing, enveloping said body and having inlet and outlet ports connected by an unobstructed channel, one of the circular walls of said annular body constituting a wall of said channel, a water supply, and a conduitconnect-ing said' supply with said body.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL W. GILLI'N.

Witnesses FRANK E; PARKS, JAMES H. ROBINSON. 

